1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is in the technical area of telephonic communication, and pertains in particular to apparatus and methods for assuring privacy and security of communication.
2. Description of Related Art
It is well known in the art that communication between persons using network-connected devices, such as telephones, is far from secure. There are many well-known examples of eavesdropping and recording of personal and business communications, both voice and text. The recent news revelations regarding the National Security Agency (NSA) are a case in point.
It is widely presumed and argued that citizens of the USA and other nations as well have right to privacy in their communications. It is well known, however, that there are many entities, both government and private, that have motivation to secretly access, record and use voice conversations and text exchanges between persons, and between automated systems as well.
A problem in addressing security in networked communication is that typically a message from an initiator to a recipient will traverse a number of networks and computerized servers and systems between send and receive. Opportunities for eavesdropping are many, and systems have been developed that are difficult to detect. The large number of points of access to traveling messages, and the fact that points of access may be controlled by different entities, makes policing such traffic a very difficult undertaking, indeed.
The present inventor has considered the difficulties, and has developed a system that ensures privacy. The resulting invention is described in several different embodiments below with reference to several figures and diagrams.